Music

Projects:

Continuum:
Longstanding 15-year collaboration with saxophonist Michael Jenner and various other New Orleans musicians. New album available now! Featuring Geoff Clapp on drums, William A. Thompson IV on piano, and Jesse Morrow on bass.

Nashaz:
Nashaz plays original music drawing from Arabic and jazz influences. I play oud in this group and write and arrange the music. Occasionally I may play buzuq.
Other members are Kenny Warren (Slavic Soul Party, Laila and Smitty), Nathan Herrera, Apostolos Sideris, George Mel and Vin Scialla. Our self-titled debut album spent 6 weeks in the CMJ top 40 charts in both the Jazz and World categories. Available here.

In Praise of Shadows:
My first album, recorded in New Orleans.
With the exception of Aria, my arrangement of a theme by Heitor Villa-Lobos, the album consists entirely of original music I composed during my time in New Orleans (1993-2003).
The album is named for the well-known book on aesthetics by the major early 20th century Japanese writer Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, which discusses themes of light and darkness that I felt mirrored my approach to music.